“Metric has created a great record, with great pop sensibilities. I hear 80’s synths, guitars that chime, and great rhythms. Youth Without Youth hasn’t left rotation on my MacBook & iphone since I got it. Great work from Metric!

We can’t take credit for any of it. It just accidentally happened. – Brian Aubert, SSP

The third digital album release by California alt-rockers Silversun Pickups titled Neck of the Woods grew out of a chance meeting between guitarist/singer/frontman Brian Aubert and Grammy Award-winning producer Jacknife Lee (credits including Snow Patrol, R.E.M., U2).

That heritage is reflected in an appropriately big-sounding gritty guitar mix, alongside the pop sensibility that infuses the SSPU signature sound… in spite of the “alt-rock” label usually associated with their name.

The big attention-getting track is Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings), but you should also check out darker production numbers like Here We Are (Chancer), and Dots and Dashes (Enough Already).

Animoog for iPhone is available from the App Store for $0.99 until May 29 2012

The iPad version of the feature-rich analog synth emulation is available right now at the App Store for $9.99 (regular price $29.99), and the scaled-down iPhone version is just $0.99 (regular price $9.99).

The steep discounts are in effect for one week, May 23rd through May 29th. The special pricing celebrates the May 23 birth date of Moog Music founder Bob Moog.

The iPad version of Animoog is on sale for just $9.99, also until May 29 2012

Animoog is highly regarded as one of the most usable, fun, and great-sounding synth apps available for iOS devices. In particular, the iPad version with its multitouch control surface capabilities has gained a lot of traction amongst pros and serious home musicians.

On the other hand, the depth and complexity of the virtual instrument has been daunting for some users with less experience of real analog synthesizers. If you are in this category, make sure you take advantage of the many excellent online tutorials for Animoog, provided free by Moog Music and several pro audio training groups (see below for links to some of the best).

To celebrate and commemorate the 78th birthday of electronic music pioneer and inventor Robert Moog (May 23 2012), Google has created one of its most amazing “doodles” yet: a full-blown, live-playable emulation of a Moog 3-oscillator analog synthesizer, embedded on the Google home page.

Think this couldn’t possibly be a serious piece of music tech? Check out the downloadable quick-start manual for the Moog Doodle, available from Moog Music’s site (click the image below to get the PDF):

As you can see, this Moog synth emulation provides 3 oscillators, with control over waveform as well as tuning for each oscillator; a full-featured low-pass filter with a simple dedicated envelope; and a sweet pitch-glide control to give you those distinctive 70s swooping effects.

The Moog Doodle is playable on Google’s home page, using your mouse or your computer’s keyboard (the qwerty row is mapped to the “white keys”, and the number row covers the “black keys”). You can even record what you play, using the simulated 4-track reel-to-reel tape deck.

This week’s Classic Tunes download of the week dials back to 1965, and what many rock music afficionados consider to be the best days of Bob Dylan’s career.

Subterranean Homesick Blues is certainly one of his most recognizable and characteristic hit songs, if not quite so iconic as Like a Rolling Stone. It has become all the more famous – even notorious – over the decades since its release, thanks to the amazing “cue cards” video that has inspired imitations, spoofs, and tributes by hundreds of video makers, both famous and insignificant.

If you don’t already know and own this great recording, the best way to get it today is in the Essential Bob Dylan collection. This set includes a good take on the 30 all-time most loved and important Dylan recordings, at a bargain price.

If you’re more interested in accurate context, then by all means go for the album this track appeared on originally: Bringing It All Back Home. That way you’ll be getting some amazing tracks not included in Essential, including the incredible Love Minus Zero / No Limit.

Now here, just for fun, is one of the more unusual responses to the Subterranean Homesick Blues video…

Johnny’s in the basement
Mixing up the medicine
I’m on the pavement
Thinkin’ ’bout the government

Man in the trench coat
Badge out, laid off
Says, he’s got a bad cough
Wants to get it paid off

Look out kid
It’s somethin’ you did
God knows when
But you’re doin’ it again

Better duck down the alley way
Lookin’ for a new friend
Man in the coon-skip cap, in the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills, you’ve only got ten

Maggie comes fleet foot, face full of black soot
Talkin’ that the heat put, plants in the bed
But the phone’s tapped anyway

Maggie says, that many say
They must bust in early May
Orders from the D.A

Look out kid
Don’t matter what you did
Walk on your tip toes
Don’t try, don’t try no dose

Better stay away from those
Carry ’round a fire hose
Keep a clean nose, watch the plain clothes
To know which way the wind blows

Get sick, get well
Hang around a ink well
Ring a bell, hard to tell
It’s gonna tell

Try hard, gettin’ barred
Get back, write Braille
Get in jail, jump bail
Join the army if you failed

Look out kid
It’s somethin’ you did
God knows when
But you’re doin’ it again

Better duck down the alley way
Lookin’ for a new friend
Man in the coon-skip cap, in the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills, you only got ten

The man in a coon-skip cap, in the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills, you only got ten